Cape Town - Former ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa’s long-running legal dispute with lawyers at top law firm, ENS Africa and a former state lawyer for alleged misconduct is set to be heard by the the Legal Practice Council (LPC) on Monday morning.
The LPC’s investigating committee has summoned ENS Africa attorneys Senzo Mbatha and Tumi Modubu and former Joburg-based state attorney, Aubrey Milford, to appear before its enquiry into high stakes mining rights’ dispute of international dimensions.
The dispute is between Russia’s Transasia Minerals and Umsobomvu Coal, owned by local businessman Hector Kunene.
In his affidavit to the LPC Phosa wants it to investigate the conduct of ENS Africa and take the necessary disciplinary action against Mbatha and Modubu whom he accuses of fraud, conflict of interest, corruption and extortion, all of which the ENS attorneys and Milford have denied.
Phosa accuses Milford of acting unethically during an application in 2019 before the High Court in Pietermaritzburg during one of the many legal battles regarding the mining rights issue and wants the LPC to investigate collusion between the three lawyers in that application.
Phosa said in his affidavit that these acts had been committed in various litigation involving ENS Africa’s client Umsobomvu Coal, himself, his company 11 Miles Investments, his business partner Luda Roytblat who is also a co-director with Phosa of Transasia and others.
“I have been affected by the fraudulent dealings of ENS Africa, furthermore, my partners and various organs of state have been directly prejudiced as a result of the fraud which has been committed by ENS Africa,” Phosa said.
He said that on July 17, 2019, ENS Africa on behalf of Umsobomvu Coal brought an application to the Pietermaritzburg High Court but none of the respondents were ever properly served.
He said this was because ENS Africa had intended to carry out a fraud from the onset and obtain judgment against all of the respondents while disallowing them the opportunity to be represented in the proceedings.
“ENS Africa intentionally and desperately inserted the names of any legal representative that they saw fit. I will display the fraudulent and desperate intention of ENS Africa to defraud the honourable court and to obtain a fraudulent judgment against all the respondents in the matter.”
He claimed that they had colluded in producing a “false” notice to abide on behalf of, among others, Police Minister Bheki Cele and Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe regarding an application launched by Umsobomvu Coal at the time.
Phosa said this move was prejudicial to him and his partners, and that they had lost millions of rand in damages as “a direct result of the fraud, corruption and collusion committed by ENS Africa”.
The Pretoria News reported that in the 2019 application, which was at the time granted by the court, as it was under the impression that the respondents had abided by. Umsobomvu Coal asked for an urgent order granting it unlimited access to the mine in KwaZulu-Natal.
Both Cele and Mantashe were cited as respondents in that case and as government officials, they had to be represented by the office of the State Attorney.